Support for picture frames and the like



Jan. 18 1944.

' w. HAVERMAN SUPPORT FOR PICTURE-FRAMES AND THE LIKE Filed June 2, 1943Patented Jan. 18, 1944 OFFICE J j SUPPORT FOR PICTURE F-RAMES AND 4 THELIKE William Haverman, West Asheville, N. 0.

Application June 2, 1943, Serial No. 489,405

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to an improved supporting standard oreasel for picture frames and the like, the frames being capable ofholding photographs, pictures, and other objects of art.

Prior art patents directed to easels are usually rather complicated andexpensive to produce, and are not readily removable from the frame afterthey have been attached thereto. Another disadvantage of prior arteasels is that they usually have more than one point of contact with thesupporting surface on which the frame is to be placed. These severalpoints of contact together with the points of contact on the bottom ofthe frame, endanger the frame as it may not be rigidly supported.

It is a mathematical fact that a common plane can be found for any threepoints, and therefore, my present invention comprehends the use of anextremely simple easel which is cheap to manufacture and which isconstructed so that it only has one sharply defined point of contactwith its supporting surface when mounted on a frame, the other twopoints of contact being the frame per se.

Another object of my invention is to provide an easel manufactured froma single blank of wire folded on itself to provide an upstanding leg anddiverging at its upper portion to form two arms that are suificientlyresilient for projections thereon to be inserted in suitable openings atthe respective sides of a frame.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent uponconsideration of the following detailed description when considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is aperspective view of the easel removably attached to a picture frame;

Figure 2 is an elevation of the easel shown in Figure 1, and

Figure 3 shows in elevation a modified form of the easel shown in Figure2.

The easel designated generally at I0 is attached to the picture frame IIby means of projections l2 inserted in eyelets l3, fastened to the backof the said frame.

The easel itself is formed of rigid steel wir or other suitablematerial, the leg 14 of which is constructed by bending and doubling thewire for a portion of its length and spot welding or soldering the sameat one or more points IE to render the leg a unitary member having asharply defined point of contact. The arms I6 form a continuation of theleg and diverge at the top part thereof. The upper portions of the armsare preferably bent upright forming approximately the same angle withthe remainder of the respective arms, as the arms, per se, form with theleg, so that they are generally parallel to the leg [4. In addition,these upper portions are bent back as shown in Figure 1, to form retaining members IT for the purpose of maintaining the leg in fixed,spaced relationship with the frame when the easel is mounted thereon.

The projections l2 are soldered or spot welded to the arms at the pointswhere the retaining members I! form an angle with the arms It. The arms16 are rigid, but sufficiently flexible to permit squeezing theretaining members together far enough to insert the projections in theeyelets l3 of different sized frames, and then the outward spring actionof the arms causes the projections to be rigidly inserted and engaged inthe eyelets l3.

The modification disclosed in Figure 3 is similar in design to the easelshown in Figure 2, i. e., they are both generally Y-shaped. However, inthis case the easel is constructed by first bending together a wireblank and twisting the same sufficiently to form a leg [8 havingdiverging arms l9. The ends of the arms are doubled back and twisted toform retaining members 20 with ends 2| projecting at right angles to theretaining members 20. This easel functions in the same manner as thatshown in the preferred form.

It is readily apparent that the design and construction of the easelsconstituting my invention are simple and cheap to place on the market,so that they have great utility for use in combination with all types ofpicture frames. The one sharply defined point of contact of the legeffects a rigid support for the frame when it is attached and permitsready positioning of same at any convenient place. Their ease of removalmake them particularly adaptable in cases where pictures are to beeither placed on household articles or converted to the hanging typeWhere hanging wire can be substituted upon the said removal of theeasel.

What is claimed is:

1. A substantially Y-shaped easel for supporting picture frames and thelike comprising a leg and two arms extending outwardly from the topportion thereof, each arm being bent up at its upper end to form a stopmeans for maintaining the leg in fixed, spaced relationship with theframe when the easel is mounted thereon and each arm having a projectionextending therefrom at approximately the point where it is bent, saidprojections extending in diverging relationship outwardly from saidarms, the arms being sufiiciently flexible to be urged toward each otherwhereby the easel may be removably mounted at will on different sizedframes by engagement of the projections with suitable openings in saidframes. 7

2. In combination with a picture frame and the like having openings inthe back for attaching an easel thereto, a substantially Y-shaped easelcomprising a unitary leg member formed of a Single blank of wire doubledon itself and twisted together, and two diverging arms forming acontinuation of said leg member, the upper end of each arm being doubledon itself and i twisted and bent upwardly to form a stop for maintainingthe leg in a fixed, angular relationship with the frame when the easelis mounted thereon, and the extreme end of each arm projecting at rightangles to said twisted stop member at approximately the point where itis bent, said extreme ends projecting in divergent relationship fromsaid arms, the arms being sufiiciently flexible to be urged toward eachother whereby the easel may be removably mounted at will on differentsized frames by engagement of the said projecting ends with suitableopenings in said frames.

" WILLIAM I-IAVERMAN.

